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Show the j By MAC BACKMAN Chronicle Sports Editor One of the biggest myths of the last few months is that Utah's athletics are on the downgrade. Nothing is further from the truth. MANY PESSIMISTS base this assertion on the fact that in 1965, Utah's basketball and football teams finished a dead last in WAC play. What's more, they'll add that Utah's sports facilities are inadequate. But look again, pessimists, at these developments: UTAH'S BASKETBALL team won the WAC championship and took fourth in the NCAA tournament. Though Utah's football team fared poorly in 1965, the Red-. Red-. skins have a new football coach, Mike Giddings, who absolutely radiates optimism. If personality and enthusiasm make good football foot-ball coaches then Utah's 1966 team should be unbeatable as well as well-coached. AND UTAH FOOTBALL DOES have a strong nucleus coming com-ing back. Pat McKissick, Tom Hawkes, Big Ben Woodson, John Stipech, among others, are coming back. Utah's tennis team won the WAC last year and is a good bet to repeat this year. Jim Osborne, the Redskin's number one singles player, went all the way to the semi-finals in the NCAA championsips in 1965. No telling what he'll do in '66. COACH DON REDDISH'S swim team won the WAC championship cham-pionship with relative ease to further establish Utah domination in this sport. Coach Pres Summerhayes' 1965 baseball team won the northern north-ern division of the WAC and with veterans Steve Radulovich, Mike Beyler, and Dave Varvel have an outside chance of repeating. AND THIS WRITER doesn't know whether you know it or not, but the ski team finished fifth in the NCAA championships a while ago in Colorado. Frithjof Prydz, known as "Bassey" to athletes and sports writers alike, won the NCAA jumping and the NCAA nordic combined. Jumper Bjorn Loken and "Ski-Meister" "Ski-Meister" Pete Karnes did well, too, in Utah's high finish. Wrestling saw the grappling Utes finish 3rd in the WAC meet and prospectus has it that coach Marv Hess' crew could go all the way in '67. A strong 1965 freshman team is graduating to the varsity next season. THERE ARE OTHER sports like track, golf, and gymnastics which haven't mustered the success the other sports have attained, but they too are represented by improving teams that could win big in the future. If there's any question now about who's sports king of the WAC, let it be heard. In a well-balanced league like the Western Athletic Conference, accomplishments like those of the Utah teams are indeed fantastic. So, the Redskin outlook is quite rosy and with the building of the new sports complex, some of Utah's disgruntled sports fans must admit that University sports are on the upgrade. |